The Nightwalkers
by Davoid123
Summary: [3]when Isran sent the new elf to a suicide mission in some Crypt, he had no idea what he was about to unleash upon the world. [unbeta-ed, on pause until next 2 chapters are typed (estimation: 3 weeks, at most), In Progress]
1. Dawnguard

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

Chapter One: Dawnguard

* * *

As soon as he walked inside the Crypt, Eradil Envyln knew he was dead.

This was supposed to be nothing more than a recon mission. A recon mission for a _recruit_ no less.

It all began when he saw the Orc in Riften.

* * *

[Flashback sequence]

There he was, minding his own business, protecting his pocket from the probable thieves, when a pale nord in black robes entered the town, and yelled "Behold the power of night!" before drawing a sword and attacking the nearest citizen, a guard.

Eradil, who had an _ounce_ of common sense in him, stayed out of the fight, running back to the local Tavern, _Bee and the Barb_.

His attempt failed miserably. The Pale Nord, who by her method of fighting and her appearance seemed to be a Vampire, noticed him, targeted him, and attacked.

Unfortunately, Eradil was not a fighter himself. In fact, not only didn't he know the sharp end of a blade, but also his knowledge of Magic was limited to nothing more than common healing and measly flames and sparks.

The Vampire did not care about such irrelevant details, and with a swipe of her legs, brought down the fleeing elf.

Eradil Already knew his fate was seated, the Vampire had he sword and a spell-ready hand aimed at his head. He was dead, it was just the question of which weapon to be his instrument of Death.

The Vampire grinned at the elf wickedly, screeching "Now your blood is mine!", and raised her sword, but then her face changed into one of a painful Cringe.

She fell off over him, blood flowing out of her body. A piece of wood was sticking out of her stomach.

Eradil looked above in front of him, and saw his savior.

An orc in dark grey chainmail armor without no helm was looking at him, a strange looking bow in his hand.

He said "hey, you there. You alright?"

Eradil nodded, and got up slowly, cringing as a jolt of pain hit his legs.

The orc said "the Dawnguard is looking for anyone willing to fight against the growing Vampire menace. What'd'ya say?"

Eradil wished he had the courage and spunk to say "Vampires? Sign me up!", but alas, his was not the path of courage. He said " _vampires_? They're _growing_?"

The Orc raised an eyebrow at him, "have you _ever_ seen a vampire attack in day before?"

His point proven, he said "Alright. You might be a bit in shock right now. I'll just say the path to the old Fort is East of Riften. In the Dayspring Canyon. You can't miss it"

And left.

It was about two weeks later, when another vampire attack was stopped, when Eradil decided to join them.

The journey to the old Fort didn't take long. The _dayspring canyon_ was on the path to Morrowind, and he simply joined a group of priest of Azura who were returning home after visiting the shrine in Skyrim.

"well, that is the Dayspring Canyon, Friend. That'd be your stop." Said one of the Mercenaries, wearing a set of the Chitin armors the Dunmer are so fond of.

"safe travels" called Eradil, before leaving them, entering the Cave.

A short distance down the path leading through the canyon, he encountered a young nord, visibly nervous and excited.

"Ah, hey there! You here to join the Dawnguard too?" he said. After that, Eradil merely ignored him. The boy was obviously no more of a warrior than Eradil himself was, their only difference the training the Nord had with his father's old axe.

Soon enough, he'd reached the old fort's front door. Another man in the same armor as the orc waiting by the door.

The new Warrior, presumably a _Dawnguard_ , greeted Eradil and sent him in, telling him "Go on inside, Isran will want to see you"

Inside, a Redguard in the same armor as the Orc was arguing with a Nord in Apprentice robes.

"Why are you here, Tolan? The Vigilants and I were finished years ago!" asked the Redguard in a gruff voice, the other answered "you _know_ why I'm here, Tolan. The Vigilants are under attack everywhere! The vampires are more dangerous than we first believed!"

The Redguard said "so that's it? A 'you were right', and now you're running to the safety of the Dawnguard? I remember keeper _Carcette_ telling me, repeatedly, that Dawnguard is a crumbling ruin, not worth the expense and manpower to repair. And now that you've stirred up the vampires against you, you come begging for our protection?"

Tolan, the Vigilant in question, said in a solemn voice, "Isran, Carcette is _dead_. The hall of Vigilants… _EVERYONE_ , they're all dead. You were right, and we wrong. Isn't that enough for you?"

Isran, the Redguard, and apparently the one I had to talk to, said "I _never_ wanted any of this to happen, I tried to warn you. I _am_ sorry, you know…"

At this point, the Redguard dismissed the vigilant and looked at Eradil, and said "well, who're you? What d'ya want?"

Eradil answered "I'm here to join the Dawnguard"

The Redguard looked at the elf, raised an eyebrow and said " _you_ want to join the Dawnguard?" he chuckled, "have you ever _fought_?"

As Eradil shook his head meekly, Isran grumbled "Stendarr, I don't know why do I even bother with guards!"

Eradil sighed, and said "look, I've seen the state of this place. Are you _sure_ you don't need the help of a non-warrior?" Isran said "alright, look around. See I you can find anything worth keeping here. By the time you're back, I've found something for you to do"

Half an hour later, Isran told Eradil his mission.

He had to go to the Hall of the Vigilant, and see if there were any survivors.

Three days later, he finally reached the Hall of Vigilant, the Headquarters of the most violent group of Daedra-haters.

There was no headquarters. No watchtowers, or even outposts, or guards.

In the place of the hall, stood the burnt body of a building. Trying to not pay the smell any mind, he walked towards the 'hall'. In its remains there were the corpses of many a vigilant. A few bodies of Vampires as well. But no sign as to any survivors.

Then he remembered something Tolan has said, he'd said one of the Vigilants, Adavald if Eradil's memory could be trusted, had been taken when the hall was attacked.

Eradil couldn't do anything. After twenty minutes of fruitless search, he gave up, and followed the trail of blood.

Hopefully that would take him to his destination.

[Flashback Over]

* * *

It hadn't.

What it _had_ done, though, was to take him to a Crypt, and inside it, he was crouching, hiding behind a boulder as two vampires were talking to each other.

A damned Vigilant had fell before them, of course by the things he saw, the Vigilant had taken two of the vampires with him as well.

Eradil sighed, and Loaded his Crossbow, aiming at the head of the closest Vampire.

Fortunately, firing a crossbow just needed a straight hand and a firm grip, and both of which were things one could achieve in a few days of extreme practice.

The first vampire, a male nord, fell with a groan.

That got the attention of the second, who was near him. She began investigating, looking for the source of the bolt.

Eradil crouched and slowly sneaked to the next boulder, praying to every god he knew that the vampire wouldn't hear him.

When the vampire reached the boulder Eradil was hiding at, he raised the crossbow once more, and this time, and fired.

The vampire, once again, fell with a thud.

Eradil released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

That, he came to regret a second later, when a black dog with strange canine teeth barked loudly and began attacking him.

Cursing at his stupidity, Eradil gave up, threw the Crossbow to the ground, and summoned the aura of Fire magic, releasing two Turrets of Fire upon the beast, killing it as fast as possible.

Turns out, the Hound was vampiric, and weak to fire.

Walking with caution, he went to an outpost nearby, and flipped the lever inside, after picking up all the potions he could find.

A gate near the dead vigilant opened.

Walking back to the main area, Eradil flipped the Vigilant over, and sighed loudly, _there goes the great Dawnguard_ , it was Tolan.

Walking deeper into the Crypt, he faced another Vampire, and silently raised his crossbow, aiming it at his pale head, that was when another voice said "Master, there's someone behind you!"

A hunter, by what he was wearing. And probably a Thrall.

 _Darn_.

The creature turned around, and noticed him, "ah, free food! Excellent!", right before Eradil's Bolt hit him straight in the heart.

With a thud, the vampire fell, his thrall crying in pain as the Vampire's influence left him.

"where-where in Oblivion am I?" he asked.

 _Really? That is what you ask first?_ Eradil answered "a Crypt near the hall of the Vigilant. Do you know why you're here?"

The hunter shook his head, "all I remember was tailing an elk, when the weird guy attacked me…" then he looked at the dead vampire by his feet, " _NO!_ a vampire attacked me? Am I going to be a vampire?"

I said "I don't know, but I recommend going to a priest, or praying at a shrine, I'll have to go further inside"

The hunter said "alright. I'm ever in debt of you for saving me from that vampire. Thank you" and left the crypt.

Eradil walked deeper into the crypt, walking past a fallen vampire, with a large spider dead near it. _Was I lucky_ , he thought, as he entered the next hall.

Killing two more vampires, he noticed the sudden change in architecture. The structure in front of him was in no way Nordic. Not even Atmoran, like the things he'd seen in the Crypt by far. This was something different, and possibly older.

But alas, he'd yet to see the last of the survivors, and he couldn't return now, he was too curious.

He opened the door, to see a Cavern. No doubt the main hall of the crypt once.

As he entered the cavern, he could easily deduce he was on a balcony of some sorts, in front of him were two of the creepiest statues he'd ever seen. Like grotesque monsters right out of the nightmares of a Daedric lord, with sharp-looking talons in hand and wings on their backs.

As he was about to approach the balcony and descend to the lower level, he heard a clear voice saying "I'll never tell you anything, Vampire! My Oath to Stendarr is stronger that whatever suffering you can inflict on me!"

The surviving Vigilant, the one he'd been trying to find. And the vampires had him.

One of the vampires, presumably the one he'd been talking to, said "I believe you vigilant. I don't think you even know what treasure have you found here. Go, meet your beloved god" there was an audible snap, a low grunt, and a body falling into the ground.

That last vigilant was dead. _Damn_.

"are you sure that was wise, Lokir?" asked a woman, presumably another vampire, "he still might've told us something. We have no idea on…" the other vampire quickly interrupted him, "please be kind enough not to undermine me in my own mission. If you want to, we can talk after I've… "

Eradil had heard enough. Aiming his crossbow at the male vampire, presumably Lokir, and squeezed the trigger.

He failed.

His bolt hit the master vampire in the shoulder, and made him fall with a thud, but didn't kill him. The vampire cried " _UGH!_ "

The other vampire looked at him, "darn. Someone's here!"

Casting a spell at the fallen vigilant, she ran to the place Lokir had fallen and said "you'll owe me for this,"

The fallen vigilant rose with a groan. _Darn, she's a necromancer!_

The vampire raised her hand, a red aura surrounding it, and aimed it at Eradil. A jet of red light began hitting him. Eradil could see why a vampire would use that spell. The spell was slowly draining him of life, if it went on for another minute, there would be no Eradil Envyln.

Therefore, he aimed the crossbow at her heart, and fired.

As soon as the Vampire was dead, so was her Dead thrall.

Not willing to take any chances, he unleashed a turret of Flame upon Lokir, burning him, and finally killing him.

Then, he looked at the dead vigilant's body, in his hands was a book, one he'd written, anyway.

Eradil opened the book, after a bit of reading, he chuckled. This 'crypt' was actually called _DIMHOLLOW_ crypt. By the name alone, it could be easily deduced it belonged to the Vampires. No wonder it looked nothing like the Nordic ruins he'd seen until then.

Apparently, that was as far as Adavald had discovered about the crypt. Nothing more. Well, time for Eradil to continue the research!

He stepped forward, a bridge connected the mainland to an island inside the crypt.

The place was pretty much proof of the efficiency of the Ancients in building. In the island was A dome as high as six men, in the middle of it a ring of columns that supported stone archs. Of course some of those had fallen apart, after being there for so long a time.

In the center of the island, there was a stone pedestal, about half as tall as him, made of a strange purplish marble, with a sort of stone mushroom on the top. He walked towards it. The 'stone mushroom' was a button.

 _Well, whatever's that hidden beneath the island will not show itself until I've touched the button, so what the hell_. And touched it.

And cursed a second later. A Thorn Flashed upwards and down again, pretty much tearing his hand apart. Pain jolted in his hand, he yelped and drew his hand back, cursing "who in oblivion puts a trap _inside_ a button?"

He almost collapsed, but managed to pull himself back on his feet before he'd fell, and waited for something to happen. A door to open, or anything.

He was disappointed, but not for long. As soon as the Thorn retracted, the lines carved into stone around him lit up to something that seemed like violet flames, but wasn't really hurting.

 _Blood magic_ , he thought, and then, was he was healing his hand with the spell he knew, he noticed that a line of flame broke off from the circle and moved outwards. Following the line of flame, Eradil saw that there were even more lines carved in the stone beneath him. The line of flame moved, until it reached the first brazier. Then it stopped.

Eradil walked to the brazier, and found out it could be moved, he moved it to where the line of flames ended, and it began moving again.

Doing the same for the next four braziers, he finished with the last. Then he noticed the center of the structure started sinking right under him. Revealing more and more of the pillar.

When the shaking stopped, he approached the pillar in the center, there was a cylinder in the middle of the pillar, almost the same as his height.

He found another button, and said "what the hell. Whatever's in the cylinder had better be worth it!" and touched it.

Wait. That wasn't a cylinder. It was a sarcophagus. _Someone was inside_.

As the door of the sarcophagus swung open, Eradil was almost ready to puke.

But there was no need.

There was a body inside, but she sure as hell wasn't a corpse.

The mysterious woman opened her eyes, "ugh…where is…who sent you here?"

* * *

 **End of Chapter One**


	2. Awakening

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

Chapter Two: Awakening

* * *

she was young, she looked harmless, and there was a strange looking scroll on her back.

Those were the first three things Eradil thought about the woman he'd just released. Two of those were proven false in the same day.

She asked "who sent you here?"

Not lowering his Crossbow, Eradil said "a man named Isran. From Dawnguard" he looked at her. She looked to be in her twenties, with shoulder-length raven black hair, part of it in an intricate braid that wrapped around the back of her head. Her skin was pale as the snow Skyrim was so full of, which made her lips more noticeable.

The strangest thing about her were the eyes. They were not in any color he'd seen before. The eye was in the same color, and I mean that as in the entire eye socket in the same color. It was red, though not as red as the eyes of Dunmer, and her eyes were glowing.

He continued, "who were you expecting?"

The woman said, "well, someone like me, at the very least"

 _Like her_ …suddenly, everything made sense. Her pale skin, her _eyes_. How she'd been alive for probably hundreds of years, he said "like you…you're a Vampire?"

"I'm a Vampire. Yes" she said, crossing her arms like it wasn't important, though her eyes dared him to say otherwise.

Eradil frowned, "the Dawnguard would want me to kill you"

She said "who _is_ this Dawnguard you talk about?" he explained "Dawnguard is a group of Vigilants, dedicated to fighting the growing Vampire menace"

"wow, people are still the same." She said, "how long have you been with this civilized bunch?"

He said "less than a week"

"less than a week of experience, and this is the place they send you?" She chuckled, "either _they're_ too optimistic, or you're too expendable to care about"

She was right, and from what he had seen, Isran was anything but Optimistic.

She sighed, "Look, you kill me, you've killed one vampire. But if people are after me, there's probably something bigger going on. I can help you find out what it is"

He said "Well, fair enough." He put the crossbow on his back, "besides, I've had my share of fighting for today. I'm not gonna start one" her stance eased into one of relief, he asked "where do you need to go?"

"My family used to live in an island west of Solitude. I guess they're probably still there." She said, before remembering something, "oh, and by the way, Name's Serana. Good to meet you"

"good to meet you as well, I guess." He said, unsure on how to act, "I'm Eradil. What is that on your back?"

She said "that is an elder scroll, and its mine" she folded her arms under her breasts, a note of warning in her voice.

"why in oblivion do you have an elder scroll?" he asked.

"it's…complicated. I can't really talk about that to someone I just met. Sorry"

Knowing there was no hope about the scroll, he said "Why were you locked in the Sarcophagus?"

She hesitated, "I'd rather not get into that with you. Someone I just met and all" she said, "if that's okay with you"

Looking at his face, he explained, "I'm sorry, it's not that-it's just…I don't know who I can trust just yet. Let's go to my home, and I'll have a better sense of where we all stand"

"Okay. As you wish" Eradil said, "let's get going then"

Halfway throw the bridge that connected them to another part of the crypt, he remembered something, "by the way…how long have you been there?"

She stopped, "that's actually a good question. I can't answer that though. I just feel like it was a long time" she paused, "who's the high king of Skyrim?"

Eradil Chuckled, "well, depends on who you ask" "Ah, a war of succession. I was right. People are still the same. Who are the contenders?"

"well, on the west side, Winterhold, Eastmarch, the Pale, and the Rift side with Ulfric Stormcloak. Haafingar, the Reach and Falkreath stand with Elisif the Fair, who's also supported by the empire. The middle is neutral, and doesn't stand with either"

She raised an eyebrow, "so it's a battle between the two sides of-wait" she said, "the Empire? What empire?" she asked.

Eradil paused, "the empire of Cyrodil, of course"

" _cyrodill_ is the seat to an empire?" she asked with wonder. He paused, "…you've been there for a _long_ time. the empire has been around for three eras"

"wow, that's long." She said, "I've been there much longer that what we'd planned. Please hurry. We need to get home as soon as possible"

As they stepped off the bridge, Eradil saw two more of the same said weird statues, as he was walking, Serana said "wait"

He paused, and turned around to see she was pointing at the statues, " _Gargoyles_. Dangerous if we wake-" one of the statues exploded, and a beast similar to the statue rose out of its debris. It screeched, and unleashed its talons "-them."

The screech woke the second Gargoyle, and Serana said "nevermind that. Let's see if I still have my skills after so many years of sleeping."

And she still had them, and those skills she was talking about, they were a thousand times greater than he ever hoped to be.

she threw two ice spears at the nearest gargoyle, felling it, before drawing a dagger and attacking the second.

The second one fell as well, and then, she casted a necromantic spell, raising the first gargoyle, and said "c'mon then, the exit's that way!"

And ran to the exit. _So much for me escorting her_. he followed her, to see she was in a large room almost like an arena, with several Skeletons fighting her.

Her knew of the skeletons. _Draugr_ , the ancient Nordic people who'd rose for some reason, years after their dead. The beasts fought well, but the state of their weapons and bodies were a huge disadvantage for them, weakening their bodies so much that a packed punch could destroy them.

Unfortunately, that was not the case for all of them.

Each Crypt (and Eradil supposed this could be counted as one of them) had a few honored dead, and _those_ were well armed, mostly wearing ebony armor.

This crypt had three honored dead, each of them armed with an ebony sword.

Serana Fought two of them, and was too busy to fight the third, who noticed Eradil, grunted " _unslaad krosis_ " and ran towards him, swinging around wildly at the last second.

Eradil jumped back, and with a bit of trouble, swiped the Zombie's feet, making it collapse.

He forgot the armor he wore. With a yelp of pain, he jumped back, cursing. Then, raised his hands at the Draugr, and unleashed a turret of flames upon it. The zombie tried to flee, but he failed. The problem with unenchanted armor is that it can burn when you set it on fire, and this piece of Ebony was far from enchanted. Of course Ebony doesn't burn, but it can conduct fire, and Rotten bones can't resist fire.

The demon was down before long, and Eradil tried to rise, and cursed. His right leg wasn't broken, thanks to the heavy armor, but pretty much out of use until it would be healed properly. Eradil was not a healer.

Thankfully he was a hoarder of potions, and in his pack, he had plenty of healing potions.

He drank one of them, trying to ignore the sweet taste, and then rose. His foot was almost as good as new.

A few minutes later, after picking up the sword from the Draugr's Body, he searched and found a lever that opened the gate that blocked their way to the exit, and the two left the Crypt.

The moment they were out, beneath the sunlight, Serana cursed, by the Gods, I'd forgotten how much sunlight can hurt!"

He said "I'd heard the vampires would burn under sunlight"

She laughed, "that's not true. Well, actually it is, but that's not the case in Skyrim. The Cloudy Climate helps us block most of the effects, and of course the cold is something Vampires like. If I remember correctly, most people in skyrim become Vampires from _Sanguinaire Vampiris_ , which is different to the other deceases that make people vampires. one of its differences is that sun damage is not lethal. Well, not on its own."

He said "well, there we are. Welcome to 4th era Skyrim and all that. Now, tell me more about your home"

"well, my home is on an island in the sea of Ghosts, between Skyrim and High rock. Hopefully there _is_ a boat we can use to take us there. It's my family home. Not the most welcoming place for one of …well…normal people. Depending on who's around, I'll be safe there."

I nodded, "so, the easiest way there is by boat. Maybe we can charter old Harlaug to take us there. C'mon. let us travel to Dawnstar"

* * *

Three hours later, they were in Dawnstar. On the other side of the town, on the small docks, there was a small boat, with an old man standing near it.

Eradil walked towards the man, and said "hello, kind sir. Can I ask for a ride?"

The old man said "with enough coin, you can. Where do you want to go?" "an old island near the Border of High rock. I have some friends there-" "the one with the ruined castle? What sort of friends do you have? The place's Haunted! Even the most seasoned of sailors don't go there!"

"but I really need to get there. It's a matter of honor" he said, knowing most nords would soften by the mere mention of it. This one said "and my case is a matter of survival. Sorry, Elf. I can't take you there" "even if I pay double the price?" "the boat's ready for travel. Come along!"

The two got into the boat, sitting, and the Sailor took them to the island, or to a dock near it.

He said "that's as far as I can take you. I'm not gonna hang around, sorry"

As the two got off the boat, serana looked around. "well. That is that. There is the island" she pointed to the island, some distance away from them. "how are we going to get there? Swim?"

Eradil shook his head, "Fortunately, someone in the…" he looked for the name of the dock, " _Icewater Jetty_ is our friend. We'll sail!"

It took him an hour of sailing a rowboat to finally reach the dock on the island.

When they were finally off, Serana said "that's it. Home sweet home." She breathed deeply, "hey, so…before we go in…" she trailed off.w

"what?" he asked. She seemed troubled by something, but he had no idea what.

"I wanted to thank you for coming with me this far, but after we get in, I'm going to go my own way for a while. I think-" she shook it off, "I know your _civilized_ friends would want to kill everyone there, but do be kind enough to show more control than that"

Even now, Eradil knew he wasn't going back to Isran, "oh, don't worry. I'll be on my best behavior"

They walked over a large stone bridge, The main door to the castle on its other end. Two Gargoyle statues on each side, one more on the rooftops of a watchtower near the docks.

As soon as they reached the door, a gate fell, blocking the path. Serana said "now, remember. Once we're inside, let me take the lead. No showmanship, no show of magic, or might, or chivalry. Just follow me and try to look important." Eradil nodded, "let us get in the castle first"

Near the fallen gate, an old man was standing. Strangely, he hadn't the yellow eyes of a vampire.

He couldn't possibly be _4 eras old_ , but he knew something. As soon as he saw Serana, he brightened up, and yelled "Lady Serana's Back! LOWER THE GATES!"

The gates raised, and the two walked to the door, the old man said "after all this time…Lady Serana's Back! Welcome to the Volkihar keep, M'lady!"

Serana said "you heard him. Welome to the Volkihar keep."

Inside, before he could do anything, eradil heard a hiss. Before he knew it, a fellow Altmer with glowing eyes had grabbed him and slammed him to the door. The Altmer said in a violent tone "how _dare_ you trespass here, you insolent-" someone Coughed twice.

The Elf looked around to see Serana, folding her arms beneath her breasts with an unimpressed look in her face.

"wait… _SERANA_?" he said, in shock, "is that actually you? I can't believe my eyes!" he let go of Eradil, and ran to the balcony, facing a large room. "M'lord! EVERYONE! Serana has returned!"

Serana said "well, I guess I'm accepted. Come along, then."

Eradil followed the Nordic Vampire until they reached the courtroom.

What Eradil saw there was the most shocking experience of his life.

* * *

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Notes:**

 **The guard in the Volkihar keep. He's just there to say 'SERANA has returned' and then never to be seen again. Well, that would be okay if he was a vampire, but he's not (he doesn't have the eyes, and of course he isn't considered a vampire by the game). How old** _ **is**_ **that guy? My head-canon is that nords live almost as long as normal skandinavian humans do (which is almost 90 years, at best). Serana was born in, presumably, the first era!**

 **How old** _ **is**_ **Serana? The first Empire of Cyrodil was founded in the** _ **first era**_ **, and she doesn't recognize it. The Game says nothing about her age, if anyone has found a canon reference that does, please inform me (by PM, or review)**

 **While in game the main character is basically a living god (or at least after level 60 he is), normally, you don't sent a newbie to a** **crypt full of** _ **draugr,**_ **where Vampires can surely be found. My opinion is, Isran basically wanted to get rid of the newbie (which is, in game, the Dragonborn himself), and (if you sided with the Dawnguard) then he found himself the greatest recruit he could find. While I believe the Dawnguard is on the moral high ground, the dragonborn (in game, not as the playing character) would be extremely stupid to return to them after getting serana home.**


	3. Blood

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

Chapter Three: Blood

* * *

The courtroom had two long tables with a few people sitting there, feeding. On the far end of the room, there was another Table, this one with five seats. In the Middle sat the Lord of the Castle.

Two dogs were roaming the hall, guarding, and there was a room for the Mages, and another for the Smith.

Almost like a normal Courtroom of a Jarl.

The similarities ended right there. Unlike a normal court, the food on the tables were actual _humans_ _and elves_ , vampires sinking their teeth in their neck, feeding.

The two dogs were Death hounds (or so had Serana Called the black dogs that seemed to follow Vampires everywhere). The room for Mages had the dead body of a Mage in it, and the _lord_ of the castle wasn't wearing some wool clothing or robes. He was wearing a red and black armor, similar to the one Serana was wearing (of course, this one forged for a male vampire instead of a female one).

Oh, and the court members were all Vampires.

As Serana Walked to the Main table, towards the Lord of The Castle, the Man rose. "My long lost daughter returns at last!" he waited a few moments for dramatic effects. Then his tone changed, "I trust you have my Elder scroll with you?"

 _Wow, father of the year award should go to this guy!_ He thought. Considering her tone, Serana believed the same. "after all these years, this is the first thing you ask of me?" she sighed loudly, "yes, I have your scroll."

A few of the vampires murmured " _she has the scroll?_ " " _she has the scroll!_ " " _the elder scroll!_ " " _at last!_ "

The Elf vampire walked to the main table, taking his seat on the last seat on the left.

Serana's Father Shook his head, "of course I'm glad to see you, Daughter! Must I really say the words aloud?" _no, don't. you just did, and it was the fakest greetings I've ever heard_ "ah, if only your traitor of a mother was here. I'd let her watch this reunion. Before putting her head on a spike!"

The Vampire said "now, tell me, daughter. Who is this stranger you've brought into our hall?"

Serana pointed at him, " _this_ , is my Savior. The one who freed me"

The Elder Vampire raised an eyebrow, " _really_?" he looked at Eradil, "for my daughter's safe return, you have my gratitude. Now tell me, what is your name?"

Eradil looked him straight in the eyes, deciding not to back down. "My Name is Eradil Envyln. Now tell me, who are you?"

The Vampire walked around the table, standing in front of Eradil, and said "I am Harkon. Lord of this Castle and Patriarch of the Volkihar Clan. I hope my daughter's told you who we are by now"

He said "yes. You're vampires"

Harkon didn't seem to like his answer. With indignation he said "not just _vampires_! We're among the oldest and most powerful of our kind in skyrim. For centuries have we lived here, far from the cares of the world." He sighed, "That, of course, ended when my wife Betrayed our kind and stole what I valued most"

Somehow, I got the vibes he wasn't actually talking about Serana. Or the Scroll on her back.

Serana seemed to realize it too, as she tightened her lips, looking at the two males exchange greetings.

Eradil said "So, what happens now?"

The Vampire admitted "You've done me a great service" he looked at him thoughtfully, "and you must be rewarded. There is but one gift I can give, that is equal to my daughter and my elder scroll." He exclaimed proudly, "My Blood!"

Noticing Eradil's confused look, he explained, "come, follow me to my Office, and I'll explain."

Once the two of us, along with Serana, were in his Office, he said "I offer you my blood. Take it, and you shall walk like a lion among sheep. Men will tremble at your approach, and you'll never fear death again"

 _in other words: become a vampire, like me._ Eradil said "I need a few minutes to think about this, Lord Harkon"

"please, take your time"

And that was when Eradil began thinking. This could be the single most important choice in his life, if he made it. On one hand, there was the fact that he was supposed to be a vampire hunter. Actually, he was a vampire hunter. On the other hand, the Dawnguard pretty much found him useless, and expendable, and sent him to die.

Oh gods, was there actually a doubt what he'd choose?

Harkon, tired of waiting, said "perhaps you'd need more convincing. Behold the power!"

A blood-red mist began rising from harkon's body, surrounding him. Eradil took a step back, before he could stop himself.

Harkon then seemed to Explode. a monster stepped forward from where he was standing.

The monster was at least two feet higher than Harkon, and looked like a Gargoyle, just more intimidating. Claws stretched out of his fingers, a pair of wings grew out of his back. With a flap of his wings, Harkon-beast flew in the air, his hands raised, with a red aura surrounding one of them.

The beast was _powerful_ , and unearthly. It wasn't something that was supposed to exist, and it was magnificent.

Harkon-beast then said "Now, Make your choice!"

The choice was made, and Eradil knew he would never regret this.

"I accept your gift"

The Beast once again descended to earth, and said "good. Now, hold still!"

The lord of the castle bared his teeth, and quickly grabbed Eradil.

All he heard was the sound of Snap, and a jolt of pain.

He knew no more.

* * *

Eradil woke up in a temple. In front of him were the entire court, as Harkon walked towards a strange looking Statue to some Daedric God.

A Younger looking Harkon said "Molag Bal! Harvester of Souls, God of Schemes! On this day, I Summon Thee!"

The ground beneath them shook, the air transforming into blood-red mist.

In front of Harkon, next to the Statue (which was probably a statue of Molag Bal. he'd never seen one of them, so he wouldn't know) a portal opened.

A voice said "who dares summon the Lord of Rape?"

Harkon said "it is _I_ , Volkihar Harkon! Lord of this land, and one of your faithful worshippers!" "and why would this _volkihar Harkon_ summon the Lord of Rape, then?"

"to ask for a blessing, one for me and my court!"

" _I will_ , under one condition" "anything, My lord!"

"you shall gift to me your beloved, and her firstborn daughter. You shall ready them for Coldharbour itself! Can you do that, Harkon Volkihar?"

The Court gasped briefly, Harkon hesitated for a moment, and then said "I can, and I will, M'lord. If they accept it"

"good, then _I_ give you the Blessing of the night! You, and whoever you choose, will be my instruments of destruction upon this realm. In the name of Void below, I name thee Vampire, Creature of the Shadows, Life drainer, Night-stalker! Thou shalt be lion among sheep! So says Molag Bal, Lord of Rape, God of Schemes, Harvester of Souls!"

The room darkened, and he once again plunged into unconsciousness.

* * *

When he woke again, he was in the same temple. Now empty and unused for ages.

In front of him was a shrine to Molag Bal, a well of blood flowing into a large bowl beneath it. Next to it was Harkon, this time, in his Human form.

The Vampire said "Awake at last! Good. The power is growing within you, and you must learn to wield it"

 _The power?_ Eradil said "I'm ready to learn about the powers you've gifted me."

The vampire smiled, and said "with my guidance, you'll be an instrument of Death, striking terror in the heart of Mortals wherever you tread. Now listen carefully, and do as I instruct!

"True power of Ancient Blood is found in the form of the Vampire Lord. Assume the mantle of Vampire lord, and we will continue"

 _But I don't know how to-_ before he could complain, he realized he actually knew how to do that. The power of Blood was calling him, and all he had to do was answer that call. With a bit of precision, he found the source of the power he felt within him, and grabbed it, forcing it to come to him.

Red Mist Covered his eyes, in a moment, he felt a jolt of pain. Then a sense of _freedom_.

He looked at his own arms. They were both grey in skin, unlike his normal golden skin, and long, sharp, talons had stretched painlessly from his fingers, well, actually Claws.

He felt his wings flapping, and looked around. Harkon looked significantly shorter now, but there was no fear within his eyes. He said "in this form, you can drain the life of your foes on your right hand. With your left hand you can wield the power of blood magic to raise the dead."

As soon as Harkon mentioned it, he could see the difference. His right hand was surrounded by a magic of Blood red aura, and a bluish aura of necromantic type surrounded his left hand.

"you can also call upon the powers of the night, and turn into a swarm of bats, and travel in such form, at will"

As he said it, Eradil Tried to test it. He willed himself to become a swarm of bats. And then, he _was_ a bat, amongst many more of them, once again, he transformed back into the form of Vampire lord.

"should you run out of magicka, you can descend to the ground and fight like the beasts do. Do so, and we shall continue"

Eradil willed his wings to stop flapping, and slowly descended down, on the ground, and raised his arms. Harkon nodded, and said "good. You are, of course, weaker on the ground, because you cannot access the blood magic. However, the night powers are still yours to command, and your claws are sharper than any weapon found in this mortal realm. Over time, you will grow in power and strength, and you will find new ways to use your magic. There is much to learn, but if you _master_ the powers of vampire lord, few enemies can stand against you."

As Eradil once again used his wings to hover on the ground, he heard Harkon say "there is one last thing you might need to know. Draining the life force from your foes can grant you new night powers and blood magic. I keep a stable of Thralls within this castle, should you need to feed like the lesser vampires to stave off the sun. That is all you need to know. Rest, and enjoy your new powers as the Vampire lord. But do know that should you show this form to a human you wish not to kill, they might not believe you. Sadly, the actions of our lesser-gifted kin has damaged the reputation of the Vampire kind. Now, once you turn back into your mortal form, you might feel weakened, but do not be surprised. That is merely your body experiencing a decrease in power. Nothing more"

Eradil Turned back into a mortal elf once more, Harkon said "good. I have a task for you, that might help you learn to use your powers against real foes. Talk to me when you are ready"

I said "tell me of this task, M'lord" "Speak with Garan Merathi. Tell him it is time. he'll understand."

* * *

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Notes: if you're not a warrior, choosing the Dawnguard in game is pretty much stupid for you (the few few restoration spells aren't usefull for a vampire). Vampires are better in thief skills (Illusion is easier, No one hears you when you sneak, you can turn** _ **invisible**_ **) and they can cast useful spells (at least, the VL form is)**

 **the first time I played Dawnguard, I was a** _ **low level destruction mage**_ **. For a mage with a low level (12 to be precise), the Vampire lord is basically an in-game God Mode. A strong spell that can kill enemies with a single hit. A raise dead spell that can revive NPCs with a higher level than you. Oh, and don't forget the claws!**

 **So while writing this, I decided to use those opinions to shape Eradil's first ideas about being a Vampire lord. He's an Altmer, basically built for being a mage (even though he doesn't know any spells apart from Flame and Healing, that will change soon though)**

 **A few things have changed from the game of course, one is the use of 'Bats' ability (which, in game, is basically used only when you're stuck somewhere, due to the largeness of the VL form). Another is that normal people in Skyrim can't open a skill list and choose new perks, so I'll just have to choose which ones Eradil gets first.**

 **Another is the fact the in game, Harkon basically turns you in front of the whole court. And I think that to be idiotic. The whole thing about Harkon asking the two to go to his chambers was something I first saw in "Five Threads", a story by** _ **El Stormo**_ **. I don't claim it to be my own idea.**


	4. Vampire

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

* * *

Chapter Four: Vampire

Garan Merathi turned to be, as his name suggested, a Dunmer. proud like the rest of his kind, but a bit more level headed, because of his age.

He was standing on the balcony on the top of the Head Table, looking at the vampires' feast. Eradil walked towards him, and said "Lord Harkon has a message for you"

The dark elf with red hair and beard looked at the new-blooded Altmer, and said "I'm listening. What is his message?"

"he simply said 'it is time'"

The Dunmer raised an eyebrow, saying in amazement, "well, well. He wants the chalice, then. You've heard of the bloodstone chalice?"

Eradil said "I was turned less than a day ago. What do _you_ think my answer is?"

The Dunmer said "well, not surprising, it's a rather well-kept secret." he paused "the Chalice has been in Lord Harkon's Possession for quite some time now, if used properly, it can increase the potency of our powers. He has neglected using it for ages, if he wants it filled now, there are grander things afoot. This is good. Walk with me, I'll take you to it"

The two walked, and Garan Continued "Lord Harkon has never cared to use the Chalice, relying on his more than adequate powers until now. This is an intriguing change".

The moment they reached the main hall, the Elf who had intimidated Eradil, and a Nordic vampire about as tall as the elf began arguing over something or another, each of them insulting the other's intelligence. Garan sighed, "Excuse us. I need to fetch the Bloodstone Chalice"

The two courtiers stopped at once. Both turned to the Dark elf, the Elf said "the Chalice? Why?"

The nord said "what're you up to, Garan?"

Garan sighed, and said in frustration "Lord harkon's Orders, Orthjolf. Calm yourself. Our brother here has been ordered to fill the Chalice"

The Elf said " _really_?" "indeed, he's off to Redwater Den"

The Nord, who was probably Orthjolf, said "well then, best of luck to you!"

The Dunmer continued walking to a large room in the right side of the Castle, and said "Orthjolf and Vingalmo are Harkon's Primary advisors. I'm sure they're quite surprised to hear _you're_ the one to take the chalice."

They stopped at the large room. Inside were a few bookshelves, four chairs, and in the middle of it, on a stone stand, as a large stone chalice.

"here we are. Now, this chalice needs to be filled directly from the bloodspring that is the source of Redwater Den. But that's not enough, once the chalice is filled, the blood of a powerful vampire must be added to it."

He said "pack for a long travel. The Redwater den can be found east of Riften, within the Hold of Rift. Of course, Keep in mind that Redwater Den has fallen into…well, let's just say les reputable members of Society now dwell there. It's your choice whether to attempt to deal with them, or force your way through. Do hurry up though, you do not want to keep Lord Harkon waiting"

 _Potions and Weapons_ thought. First stop, the Wizard's Station.

Across the courtroom was the wizard's station, an Alchemy station on the first floor and an Arcane enchanter on the second, Eradil walked to the large room. Inside was a Dunmer in grey Armor, and a Bosmer in red armor, the Dunmer was working on a potion, evidently focused on his work, the Bosmer though, seemed to be a bit of a brown-noser, still, he had potions Eradil would need, a few for resisting fire, a few for magicka, Stamina and Health.

Then he walked to the other side of the courtroom, where the smithy could be found

When three hours later, Eradil returned from the smithy in a grey Vampire's Armor, with boots and gauntlets and a sword. Of course the sword didn't seem _that_ sharp, but it was better than the measly dagger he had with him.

When he walked to the door of the keep, to leave it, he saw Serana was waiting for him by it.

He looked at her and nodded for greetings, then Serana said "out for a mission _this soon_?" Eradil said "yes, Lord Harkon wants me to fill the Bloodstone chalice" Serana frowned, "but you've been a vampire for just a _day_. How does he expect you to survive there?"

Eradil said proudly, "he's shown me the powers a vampire can wield!"

The skeptic look Serana had on her face made him doubt his word. The Serana's firm words made him eat his. "no he hasn't."

Then she said "let me guess, he showed you the form of the vampire lord, and told you about its 'glories' and 'powers'. Right?"

Eradil nodded meekly, she laughed, "That man has been stuck in his castle for too long. Yes. Your powers as the Vampire lord are great, yes, its magnificent, and yes nothing can beat you. The thing is, you can't use it that much. The world is not built for that form, and your brutish body makes _anyone_ panic. Guess what? Panicked people don't have anything to lose, and an easy fight can become a _very hard_ one by transforming in the middle of battle. Besides, it takes some time for your body to understand the changes, and in those minutes between transforming and complete perfection, you're vulnerable. And besides, what about the times you are in _this_ form?"

Eradil's confused face made her want to slam her head to the wall, "gods, you're hopeless. C'mon, I'm going with you. _Someone_ has to show you the ropes!"

* * *

Thus began Eradil's true training as a vampire. They traveled in night ("Never do your hunting in day, it can be quite hard, for you won't heal like you would in night.), the tried to avoid cities ("a blood-starved vampire can't help himself, he'll attack, and it can be dangerous inside a city"). They avoided the Vigilants, hiding in shadows ("mistwalker is the second name of a vampire. A good vampire never attacks when he doesn't need to")

It took them longer, having to take the main roads during the days, but they reached the redwater den before the next week, without any real fight happening.

They reached the 'den', and like any other skooma den (at least, the ones near Riften), it was actually a ruin. A cave, a trap door within an abandoned house, an old crypt cleared of its Draugr.

This one was the second. A burnt house was there. Serana said "well, I guess that is it. Let's go investigate"

The two got near, inside the burnt house, there was a hunter, eating a piece of Venison. she looked at the two and said "new customers? C'mon, the den's down the trapdoor, that way"

She pointed at the trap door.

When they opened it, and climbed down the ladder.

Inside was like other skooma dens as well. A guard was standing by the door.

The guard, in leather armor, said "hold it right there!" with a sword in his hand, he said "you go inside, buy what you want, and return. No troublemaking. Deal?" "alright. whatever you say"

The Guard opened the door, and said "down you go."

Downstairs, the differences started: instead of a few people laughing off, or moaning after the hangover, a few people were moaning, like the way a dead thrall moans. Like their souls were in pain and the body couldn't understand it.

Serana murmured "get ready, the lesson for fighting might start soon", but that wasn't necessary. Eradil said "maybe there's another way?"

Of course, there's always another way. What Eradil did, was to find the most suspicious looking door of the den, and break its lock. The moment he picked the lock, one of the guards, well actually thugs, that patrolled the place said "what the hell are you doing there?"

Scratch that. There _was_ going to be a fight.

The human with a sword turned towards them, and said "halt! That place is off limits!"

Eradil turned towards the human. Unfortunately, that action was most unwise. The Nord yelled "VAMPIRE!" and attacked.

With a wide swing of his sword, he tried to cut off Eradil's arms. Eradil jumped back, expecting to feel a jolt of pain, and he probably would have, if he was still an elf.

The Vampire's body was faster. Great reflexes helped him duck the swing, and then he replied the attack with a swift punch to the man's stomach. That punch was enough to throw him over the room, to the metal bars that blocked the dealer from everyone else.

The man cried in pain, but got up again, this time running at the vampire and swinging widely. He failed again, but this time, it wasn't a punch that answered him. It was actually a stab of Eradil's Ebony sword. He ran the man through with his sword.

As soon as the man was dead, Serana said "alright, time for combat lessons!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, they entered the room from the opened door, the new room was basically an excavation site. A cave, with several rooms carved out of it. Unfortunately, they weren't alone. The first things they faced were a vampire and his Thrall, who was armed with a bow.

"so why don't you just drink the blood from the spring? I mean, that seems easier than running a _skooma den_!" asked the Thrall, with a rather easygoing tone. His overlord answered "the boss said its some sort of profaned spring. It may _look_ like blood, but It's not the real thing. Drinking it gives us strength, but not without a price. That's why we thought of putting it in the skooma"

"Damn!" said Serana, "the Thrall's already bonded. You're not strong enough to stop the influence"

The vampire heard that, and said "who's there?"

His Thrall as luckier, for _he_ managed to find at least one of the two intruders, he aimed his bow at Eradil, but Eradil had a better weapon. ("no matter what you wield, your off-hand should always have the Vampiric Drain spell at the ready. It's a helpful spell, for it heals you as it drains your foe. No matter what, always have it ready, but don't use in near unhostile mortals")

He unleashed his Drain spell upon the mortal, and it felt _great_ , the same feeling he'd get when he was using potions for health. He could already feel his exhaustion from an older fight leaving his body. Unfortunately for the mortal, he was losing his life force just as fast. Soon enough, his body began aging. Decaying as if it had been in a grave for years. When the spell had done its work, the man was dead.

Eradil knew what to do next, he summoned the aura of Necromancy and Raised him again. ("Don't care what you heard back when you were a mortal. As a vampire, Necromancy is your friend!")

The soul-less body rose again, picking his bow, and aimed at another target. One Serana was busy piercing with Ice spikes.

In a matter of minutes, the mortals, and their vampire overlords, were dead. "Feral vampires!" Serana spat, "these _beasts_ are what gives our kind a bad name"

Deeper into the Den, he realized the 'den' was actually built on an old Nordic crypt. The Draugr proved no more of a nuisance than the vampire and his two cronies.

Soon enough, they'd reached the Inner Sanctum of the Crypt. Which probably held the Spring, considering the small puddles of blood-red liquids that were coming out of the door connecting them to the Sanctum.

Once inside, in front of them was a long sideboard. On it were a few coins, a quill, and a book. A journal to be exact.

"well, lookie here!" said Serana, "someone's left their journal. Let's see if there's anything helpful in it."

It wasn't. those were actually the writings of a Vampire that had found out about the 'Bloodspring of Lengeir's Feast' from a book in Alinor, and then had traveled to Skyrim, to search for it. And had found it in the rift. The whole 'Skooma Den' was a front for this Spring, nothing more than that, and those poor bastards they'd seen up there were basically food.

Damn if Eradil wasn't impressed. Not _everyone_ is that practical, or cunning.

But alas, this 'Venarus Vulpine' fellow had to die.

Passing a few rooms full of Draugrs (now dead again), they reached the greatest room in the crypt, where seven Vampires were feasting on a table. In the far end of it, on the throne, sat an imperial with grey Vampire armor. Presumably Venarus Vulpine. He was the one who noticed them. And said "so, the Volkihar finally have an answer?"

Serana frowned, and looked at Eradil. Eradil said " _what_ should the Volkihar have an answer for?"

The imperial Vampire said "do you, or do you not, support us to become a new clan?" he rose, "we have the bloodspring of Lengeir's feast. We have enough food to last us for a long time, and if the mortals don't change, for a lot longer. We just need support from the only other clan here!"

Serana laughed, "all this, because you want to start a clan? You do know you need to have at least five ancients for finding one, do you not?"

Another vampire, this one a Nord, said "Screw this, Vulpine! These idiots are not supporting us! Let's just kill them!"

And fell back to his seat, gurgling in pain, when Serana silenced him with an ice spear in the throat.

Another vampire said "your blood will not protect you from us!"

After that, it was a bloodbath. The five vampires gave as good as they got, even if none of them survived. Eradil Pierced the heart of the last vampire, and then turned to Vulpine. Serana said "well, there goes your plans, fledgling! All that remains is-" the imperial Interrupted, raising his sword and yelling "-YOUR DEATH!"

He attacked Eradil. With a low swing of his sword arm as his Drain spell failed to land on Eradil. The Elf tried to parry, raising his sword and grabbing the other's sword in a hold, right before the weapon could make, a Spear of ice pierced his heart, and he fell over.

Serana said dryly "Teamwork, right there!"

From the dead body of the vampire fell a key, the key that unlocked the door to the Bloodspring.

Picking the key, Serana unlocked the door, entering the hall of the spring.

Inside it was, well, the bloodspring, which, as the name suggested, was a spring, but instead of Water, Blood flowed from it.

Eradil took an empty potion bottle from his pack, and filled it with the redwater of the spring.

Serana said "well, that's it then. All we need is the blood of a-"

The sound of footsteps made her stop talking, and got the attention of the other vampire.

From a door on the other side of the room, entered two rather familiar vampires.

Well, familiar in a sense that Eradil had saw them before. Unlike the others in the den.

The two were armed with crossbows, and one of them, the female one, said in false sympathy. "it's really too bad, you know. This little accident you had here, completely unexpected…"

The male vampire said mockingly, "yeah. Too bad. Lord Harkon's new favorite, dead so soon. If only his sidekick wasn't so blood-starved…"

The female one continued, "we're just lucky I was here to return the Chalice to Vingalmo, so he could make sure Harkon could get it back!"

Apparently, that wasn't the plan. The male vampire turned towards her, "wait, WHAT? That's not what we agreed! We were supposed to take it back together!"

"Idiot," The female one said mockingly, "you didn't really think I'd let you walk out of here alive now, did you? Vingalmo wants you _all_ dead!"

The other one said "oh whatever, Orthjolf just told me to finish off anyone who got in the way"

And at one, both of them pointed their Crossbows at each other. Firing almost at the same time.

The Male Vampire was too slow, his bolt hit the female vampire in the shoulder, while her bolt hit him in the face.

With her uneasy ally dead, he turned towards the other two, "now, about the two of you," she threw the crossbow to the sides, and unleashed her claws. "I will be more than enough!"

She wasn't. for while the two Allies were bickering, Eradil had already loaded his crossbow, and had it leveled at her face.

She fell with a thud, falling before she could do anything. Eradil said "a pint of Ancient blood is supposed to help the mixture. Maybe _two_ pints would help even more!"

And filled two more bottles with blood from the two vampires.

The two walked to the door the two Vampires had entered from, and found themselves in the Den, once again.

This time, though, _everyone_ was dead.

Serana cursed, "damn, he called for a _purge_?"

Eradil looked at her in confusion, she explained "we were not my Father's answer to Vulpine." She pointed at the dead bodies, and the walls that blood was smeared on. "this was his answer. Those two weren't really here to kill _us_. Their official mission was to purge the den from Vulpine's Coven of Vampires."

Travel back to the Castle wasn't that hard. They went to Windhelm at night, and with a bit of 'persuasion', Serana managed to book them a passage to Ice Water Jetty, this time though, in a sailing ship, instead of a rowboat.

The downside to traveling like this was, it took longer than usual.

Deep in the night, Serana walked into Eradil's Cabin in the ship, and said "hey, you've been a vampire for almost three days now. My last lesson to you is this. _Never_ go without feeding for more than _three_ days. You'll go to a blood-starving frenzy the moment you smell blood. Even if you don't, a mortal's gotta be stupid not to notice that _something's_ wrong with you.

So there goes our final lesson! Follow me!"

The two sneaked to another cabin, where a Breton was sleeping soundly. Serana whispered "go on. Drink. She'll not notice you if you don't make a sound"

Kneeling next to the Breton, he touched his neck, and found a place that wasn't covered with clothes, and sank his fang there, quickly.

Eradil has tasted blood before. Sucking on small wounds on occasion. It had never tasted like this.

The blood tasted a thousand times sweeter than a health potion. It felt extremely pleasant and Eradil could go on with this a lot longer and-

He was firmly thrown back. Serana got him off the body of the still asleep Breton, and casted a paralyzing spell on the Breton. Grabbing the elf by shoulder, she dragged him out of the room, into his own.

Eradil said "what in oblivion was _that_?"

Serana said "you were overfeeding. A moment longer, and she'd have turned!" she said, "you'd almost drunk the poor fellow dry. I had to stop you before he could feel something was wrong!"

Then, exhaling once, she said "if you're feeding off a body, don't take longer than five heartbeats if you want the poor fellow still alive."

* * *

Returning to the Castle, Eradil went to the Room of the Chalice, where Garan Merathi was waiting for him.

He said "I see you have returned. Lord Harkon will be most pleased. You met Stalf and Salonia, I assume?"

Eradil nodded, and said "weren't they supposed to be on a mission?"

"yes, to cleanse a coven of Feral Vampires. Lord Harkon and I suspected they might follow you there."

He said "they tried to kill me. Not that they succeeded, though."

The Dunmer looked at him like it was the most normal thing that could happen, "Of course they did. And you killed them. Welcome to the politics of the Court of Volkihar. Vingalmo and Orthjolf both long for our lord's throne, but cannot make overt moves against him. Each sought to gain more power, using an underling to kill you and keep the chalice for himself. By ensuring the Chalice reaches our lord, you have increased his power over them, and deprived them of an asset."

Garan smiled wickedly, "you've done your lord _two great services._ Take what you've learned to heart, and be careful who you trust. Now I believe lord Harkon expects you to get familiar with the castle."

* * *

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Notes: Thus ends the 'tutorial' for vampirism.**

 **I always had a problem with the player's version of Vampiric Drain. The original spell looks so powerful and if a vampire hits you with it, you're pretty much dead. Then you cast it, and it takes** _ **five PPS**_ **! Even lesser than** _ **flames!**_

 **Another was that how the Dragonborn seemed to just know about things by himself. How the fuck can a normal guy just** _ **know**_ **how much to feed from a victim without killing them?**

 **PS : as I'm uploading this chapter, I'm also writing the next three.**

 **Next up: a 3-chaptered arc "prophet"**

 **That's it, for now.**


	5. Prophet: The Secret Clan

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

* * *

Chapter Five: Prophet: The Secret Clan

Another week passed in the Volkihar Keep, and Eradil was finally familiar in the castle. At least, most of the clan masters knew him.

While Lord Harkon was the lord of the castle and the clan patriarch, the clan was basically ruled by Vingalmo, Orthjolf, And Garan Merathi. Each of them trying to one up the others, and as a result, all of them worked for the betterment of the clan, something he suspected Harkon knew as well.

Hestla, a Nord vampire with a vendetta against the companions was the smith, armorer, and in charge of the Armory.

Fura, another nord vampire, was basically the weaponmaster, and could _always_ be found in the training area near to the Smithy.

On the other wing of the Castle, a dunmer named Feran Sadri was the potions master. he and his apprentice, a Bosmer named Ronthil, seldom left the wizarding station, only leaving for feeding or sleep.

The strangest thing about the castle was the dungeons: like harkon has boasted, a group of men and mer were in the stable in the dungeons, packed in four cells, for anyone who needed feeding, or as Harkon had put it 'stoop to the level of ferals to stave off the sun'.

The Thrallmaster was a nordic Chef, who had warned Eradil on his first day back, "you can feed on the thralls all you want, but as long as you're here, you go by _my_ rules, one of them is, don't overfeed. If one of my Thralls dies, you regret it"

Serana has told him after leaving the stables, "my advice, go for potions. They're basically blood, just bottled instead of inside a body. It may not taste as good as blood, but it has lesser risks" she has laughed, "for one, no mortal checks the insides of a potions bottle"

* * *

It was around then that the threat of the Dragons ended, the Dragonborn returning to Whiterun from a Journey to Skuldafn (something the Black Horse Courier had explained in details), and the civil war ended with an uneasy truce. While the Jarl of Windhelm remained on his throne, his army returned home, back to being farmers, fishermen, guards, and legionnaires (another thing the courier had mentions in details, claiming it to be 'the second greatest show of diplomacy in North in the entire era, only to the Decree of Monuments')

With a peace achieved, many scholars and people with dreams of great fortune moved to skyrim.

That night, Eradil was on Guard duty on the watchtower near the docks. Another vampire, a loyal Volkihar by the name of Modhna, was on guard duty as well, when the strange scholar appeared.

Eradil didn't see him, of course, but Modhna was far more experienced, and had the good mind to use her vampiric vision while guarding the castle at night, and said "There's a boat sailing towards us, four people in armor rowing, an elf in blue robes sitting. What should we do?"

Eradil thought, "let them enter. They're either vampires, and they're welcome, or they're food. Neither is a problem," he paused, "on second thought, I'll go greet them. Cover me from above if things get ugly"

And when the boat dropped anchor near the docks, a lightly armored Eradil was there to greet them.

"who goes there?" he asked, when one of the men helped the elf out of the boat. The four warriors raised their weapons at once, summoning the aura of Fire.

The elf clapped once, "at ease" and the four sheathed their weapons. The elf said "I am here for an audience with the lord of this clan. I take it you can take me there?"

With a focused look, Eradil noticed the vampire eyes on the elf, even if he wasn't exactly like them and had an aura of unknown around him, he indeed _was_ a vampire.

Fortunately for him, the lord accepted Audiences from fellow vampires at night. Eradil nodded at the robed elf," indeed, please follow me"

Trusting Modhna had heard him and knew what was going to happen, he led the vampire to the court room, where other vampires were doing their own business.

The lord was sitting on his throne. Eradil said "please, wait here for me to announce your arrival" and walked over to the balcony, and said "MY lord, a fellow vampire asks for an audience" loud enough for Harkon to hear

The Vampire Lord said "we accept his demand. Let him in" before ordering another vampire, Menasur, to call the court.

When everyone had gathered around, sitting in their places, the Elf walked in the middle of the room. Harkon said "well then, fellow vampire. tell us why you're here"

The elf began, "I am here from a clan of our kin in the Rift. My superiors are not pleased with how things are going in skyrim" he explained, "The Volkihar clan, as the only _active_ clan in Skyrim, is failing to do its job"

Lord harkon looked at the elf with amusement, amazed at his courage, speaking to a clan patriarch like that.

His subjects were not as amused, though. Orthjolf, the Nordic vampire in charge of clan politics rose in rage, "how _dare_ you come to our hall and speak to our lord like that, you insolent-"

The elf said "calm your subject, Lord Harkon"

Vingalmo, Orthjolf's Rivan and ally of consequences, said "While i wouldn't put it as rudely as my Nordic clan-mate did, he's right. it _is_ common courtesy to talk to a clan patriarch with respect, you should not-"

Garan interrupted, "there are no clans in the Rift. The last time someone tried to form one, their fate was not…pleasant"

The elf laughed, "of course. Venerus Vulpin's pathetic attempt at forming a clan. Oh yes. My clan thanks you for it, but I assure you. There _has_ been a clan of Vampires in the Rift, for almost four eras. Unlike _you_ , we do not follow the Lord of rape. We profane him, for _we_ follow lady Beolfag, She who is blood-matron to all" he paused, "but _that_ is irrelevant"

Harkon said "you accused us of failing to do our 'job', explain to me why would you think so."

"The Volkihar clan is the only active clan here, but there are a lot of ferals in this province. Our blood-fiends failed to survive the currents of time, of course, and _your_ clan has been in seclusion for so long" he said, "that's the reason my clan proposes a pact"

"tell me of this pact"

"like you, we do not condone the actions of the less civilized folk of our kind, they are a scourge on both _us,_ and the mortals, and for the sake of our continued safety, if nothing else, we agree they should be slain. Like you, however, we did not act on this opinion, and decided to stay in hiding" he sighed, "we were wrong

"this threat has caused the mortals to take action. Reform an ancient organization that was dedicated to hunt our kin. We can't ignore it anymore, lest the Dawnguard finds about our clans"

Harkon frowned, "is this true?"

Man in the court said their agreement, The Thrall master said "I have experienced some trouble when I was out to acquire our thralls. Locals with chain-mail harassing others, but nothing more"

Ronthil rose as well, "if M'lords allow me, I also faced troubles on the roads. A group of five in chain-mail armor and strange bows have been patrolling the roads of the Rift. They were more of a nuisance that anything, but I could see why they might prove a problem later on"

The elf said "indeed, if they're left alone, they have the potentiality of becoming a genuine threat later on. For this, we ask for an alliance. Let us work together, help each other out if there's any problem for each of our clans. Once this threat is done and over with, we can return to our own lives. What say you?"

Harkon pondered, "we need more time, before answering to such a preposition. Give us a few weeks, I'll send a courier to the rift, no doubt you'll find them and learn of our response"

As the vampire left, Harkon, Garan, Vingalmo and Orthjolf left to talk.

The next day, Garan told Eradil "lord harkon has summoned you. Make haste"

Walking to the second floor of the castle, he walked to Lord Harkon's Chambers, where the ancient vampire was scribing something.

"you wanted to see me" said Eradil.

The vampire looked up, "yes, I did" he paused, "you see. When I told you I was grateful for my daughter's safe return, I was honest. but I didn't tell you everything"

Logical, Eradil was but a lackey of the court. "I expected as much" the nord nodded in approval, "good. Strong instincts and a cunning mind will serve you as well as blade, spell, or claw."

He then began explaining, "As you no doubt know, vampires are powerful, but we do have our limits. Our great enemy has always been the sun, and enemy we've never had a chance to fight." He paused, "well, until now. For centuries I've searched for an answer to this problem, until I found one. Recently, I read of a prophecy, as it was explained by a moth priest"

At eradil's confused face, he explained "they're an order of monks who dedicate their lives to reading elder scrolls. That certain prophecy foretells a time when no vampire has to fear the sun. when we finally overcome this _everlasting_ enemy"

Well, lack of Sun damage _would_ be quite useful. Harkon continued, "I have reasons to believe the key to unraveling the prophecy is written in the scroll serana carries" "but we can't read elder scrolls"

Then, he said "indeed. That was why I decided to keep this revelation a secret. The declaration of this new clan, along with the revival of Dawnguard, has forced me to play my hand. I've called upon the court to assemble. I have a task for all of us. And that includes you as well. Join the court and hear my proclamation"

* * *

Down in the court hall, Eradil Joined Mdhna, Fura and Ronthil, when Lord harkon walked to the balcony above his throne, and began

"Scions of the night, Hear my words! The prophesied time is at last upon us! Soon, we will claim dominion over sun itself, and forge a new realm of eternal darkness! Now that we have reclaimed one of our elder scrolls, we must find a moth priest to read it for us!"

Well, that's the answer to the big question.

"I have spread false rumors about the discovery of an elder scroll in Skyrim, to lure a moth priest here. It is time to see if those effords have borne fruit!"

Then he said "go forth! Search the land for rumors of a priest within our borders! Look to the cities, talk to the innkeepers, carriage drivers, anyone who would meet a traveler! Go now, and carry out this task! So commands your clan father, so says Harkon Volkihar!"

With that, like everyone else, Eradil left for his travelling pack. Leaving the court and castle for the priest.

As soon as Eradil reached the door, Serana was there.

"why do we _always_ meet up at the door when I have a mission?"

Serana chuckled at his whining, "Well, I don't know, but perhaps it will be in our advantage if do this together. Where are you planning to go?"

He shrugged, "ask the drivers? Maybe travelers?"

Serana sneered, "do you _really_ think a mysterious monk who's looking for an ancient _treasured_ artifact will enter inns? Take local carriages? I don't think so" "what do you have in mind?"

She shrugged, "Shalidor's Hall of Mages, is it still active?"

 _How do you know of SHALIDOR but haven't heard of an empire of cyrodill?_ "the college of Winterhold? Yes, it's still active. What about it?"

Serana sighed, "the college is one of the two places of arcane knowledge in this entire province, and high Hrothgar doesn't accept visitors. If a priest is searching for an elder scroll, he's probably been there. Why not start our search there?"

No other plans, so the two set course for Winterhold. Fortunately, there was a possibility of sailing there

 **Continued in** _ **Prophet: laid to rest**_

* * *

 **A.N:**

 **Notes:**

 **1) I'm pretty sure Shalidor didn't name it 'College of Winterhold' when he was building the mage hall in Winterhold (I'm pretty sure there** _ **wasn't**_ **a Winterhold back then, according to UESP he built the city with magic)**

 **2) I'm pretty sure Serana couldn't've known of the college, considering it was built around the times of TES:Online (second era, before the septim wars), if she was entombed in the first era.**

 **Come to think of it, the whole '** _ **cyrodill is the seat to an empire**_ **' dialogue is more about the seclusion of the Volkihar castle. Think about it, the only way she wouldn't know about an empire in cyrodill is if she was from the** _ **mythic**_ **era. And by the looks of her armor, she can't be that old**

 **3) and here is the where we part ways with canon, I've decided to revive the clan of vampires in TES: Online (at least, the Ebonheart side of it.) they're in the rift, but they are better at hiding that Volkihars. So** _ **DOVAHKIIN**_ **can't find them.**

 **unfortunately, i haven't play TES:O myself, so i don't know the _name_ of the clan. if anyone does, please inform me.**

 **I think that's it. the next two chapters are parts of a three-chapter arc.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Davoid, signing off.**


	6. Prophet: Laid to rest

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

Chapter Five: Prophet: Laid to rest

* * *

Serana's Hunch was proven correct.

It took them three days to reach Winterhold, having to resort to sailing towards it. the sea of ghosts gradually got colder as they sailed across Skyrim, from West to East. By the time they were in the borders of Winterhold, the cold sea was full of glaciers and frozen rocks, remaining from the mysterious Atmora.

The last day, they hit a blizzard. They, of course, survived if, cold not having an effect on them, but their boat wasn't a vampire, and it was crushed. Fortunately, it crashed near the land. A walk of five hours later, they were at Winterhold.

The city was pretty much nothing more than a ruined village. No more than fifty people lived there, and there was nothing of interest to be seen, apart from a few destroyed houses, a few scorched marks and a dragon's skeleton on the road, a bridge with a strange eye sign on it, and the castle floating in the sky.

Serana pointed at it, "well, I guess that's the shalidor's- the College of Winterhold, not as majestic as I expected" she paused, "let's go say hello"

The two vampires passed the bridge over the chasm, to see a statue of (probably) a mage in the center of a snow-covered courtyard. A female Altmer was waiting there, as soon as she saw them, she said pleasantly, "welcome to the college, what is your business here?"

Before Eradil could say anything, Serana said "we're looking for a particular Scholar. We were told this college has what he needed."

The elf said "oh, right. you want to see Urag then. Follow me, please"

She led them to the largest door in the college courtyard. As soon as they were inside, he led them to a door in the right. "beyond this door is the Arcanaeum. Our library. The master librarian is inside. Trust me, you won't miss him"

Once inside, they were impressed. Even Eradil hadn't seen such a library in anywhere other than Alinor itself, and for _Nords_ to hoard all this knowledge? Perhaps there _was_ a reason everyone mistrusted the college.

What surprised him even more was the master librarian.

In the end of the room, behind a desk full of books, sat a green _creature_ in adept robes. The creature with tusks, talons, and gruff exterior said "not what you expected, huh?" he chuckled, "don't worry. No one enters here without that look the first time."

Then he said, "now, what do you want here?"

Serana said "we're looking for a moth priest"

The Orc, presumably Urag, looked at her, "Then go to the imperial city, obviously. Most of them live in the white gold tower itself. Occasionally, they go out looking for elder scrolls" he paused, "luckily for you, one was around a few days back. Looked in the library for something, and left for the Dragon's Bridge. You might catch him there, if you hurry"

Without a moment of hesitation, the two left the college, using the road to solitude.

* * *

After a day, they left the snowy fields of Winterhold to a warmer reach. Taking the road, they passed whiterun's tundra and had a view of the cliffs in the Reach, but in the end, they stopped at the Hjaalmarsh.

The marshes weren't like the rest of Skyrim. Most of it was full of frogs, small snakes, and a lot of trees. While not as _dangerous_ as Winterhold or the Reach, they still had to watch their steps all the time, not to fall in the swamps. All in all, it could be Skyrim's little Argonia.

The road was mostly clear, the occasional travelling bard and courier the only people seen in the wilds, but as they reached the only city in the marshes, they were in for a surprise.

The gates of Morthal were closed.

Eradil and Serana stopped by the gate when a guard yelled from the top of the gate, "HALT!"

Eradil asked "why's the _road_ blocked?" "there's a murderer among the people of the city. We can't allow anyone to leave _or_ enter, until the city's safe again"

Serana cursed, "we _really_ need to pass. Official legion business"

The guard chuckled, "yeah, I'm sure you have an _official_ business to do, but we only take orders from the Jarl."

Eradil sighed, "Then take us to your Jarl. We'll talk with her" the guard looked at his comrade, the two of them entering a silent argument.

Ten minutes later, the guard who'd talked to them said "alright, I'll take you to the Jarl"

He descended to the grounds, climbing down a ladder and opened the gate, and said "no troubles, or it's the dungeons for you"

The two followed the guard to reach a bigger looking house in the city, " _this,_ is the Highmoon Hall. Travelers, enter and speak to the jarl. She's sitting on her throne"

Inside the 'highmoon hall' was like any other mead hall in Skyrim. A big fireplace in the middle, two sets of long tables on the sides. There was a throne on a stone stand, a few steps above the ground.

On the throne sat a very old woman, with nothing on her to show a sign of authority, but with the respect the guards were giving her, she was probably the jarl.

As the two walked towards her, she said "it's not the eyes, but what's within the soul that matters"

Eradil almost gasped. _She knows we're vampires_. His enhanced senses caught the subtle _snickt_ of claws being unleashed. Serana had thought the same.

The two guards didn't seem to understand her words though, so Eradil calmed down, if only slightly. She said, "now, travelers. What brings you to my hall?" "we wanted to ask you to allow us passage to solitude"

She smiled sadly, "unfortunately, I can't do that. The murderer might escape as you leave.

Serana sighed, "okay, what _is_ this mystery murderer you're talking about?"

"about five days ago, a house burned down. The owner, a woman named Rowena, and a child named Helgi died in the fire. The next day, Rowena's husband, Hroggir, Shacked up with another of our people. Ava"

"how is this a _mystery_? It's obviously the husband. Just arrest him"

The jarl chuckled, "if only it were that simple. I can't arrest a man without anything but rumors. I need evidence, and the only thing my men found was a note with the black hand on it. in the same day, a bard named Lurbok died in the middle of the day, inside the inn. Of course we thought it was the orc's old age catching up with him, but there were traces of poison in the Bard's mead. We suspect there might be even _darker_ things to be responsible."

Eradil asked, "if I help you, _will_ you let me leave?"

She smiled, "The moment the culprit is found, the roads will open. Please, do return to me if you find any evidence"

* * *

Once outside, their first clue was in the burnt house near the gate they'd just entered. the burnt skeleton of the house looked exactly like the one they'd entered the redwater den from, a few days ago. They walked inside.

Nothing was left there. The building was empty, if not for the ash covering the floor.

Serana cursed, "there's nothing here. Let us leave-" when they heard her.

"is anyone there? Ma? Pa? is that you?"

It was the sound of a little girl. Serana looked at Eradil questioningly, before the ran to the source of the voice.

Near the cold fireplace of the destroyed house, a little girl was trying to warm herself. Except she wasn't a kid. She was a ghost, blue ethereal form of a dead child. The kid noticed them, "Who're you? Are you strangers? cause- "she paused, before saying thoughtfully, "ma always says I shouldn't talk to strangers!"

Serana said, in the sweetest voice she could manage, "we're not strangers. I'm Serana. Don't you remember me?"

The girl said "really? I'm Helgi! Will you play with me?" before they could say anything, she said "find me first if you can!"

Before vanishing.

* * *

Further questioning of the locals took them almost five hours, and a few hours after the evening, they were directed to the town graveyard. On a cliff that overlooked the burnt house.

When they reached it, they weren't alone. Another woman was up there, this one not giving off the scent of living people.

A vampire. and a feral at that.

She was dead as soon as she noticed them. A spear of ice piercing her heart in a moment. As soon as she fell, the ghost of little Helgi appeared again, "great! You found me!"

She looked at the dead body, "and you found me first! You win"

Eradil said "who was she?" "oh she's just Laelette! She's a friend!"

 _A VAMPIRE is her friend?_ They didn't ask it, for she explained, "She was forced to burn our house down. But she didn't want to. So she kissed me goodbye, in the neck. But then the fire…it was so…" a depressed looking Helgi sighed, before vanishing.

A nord with a torch ran towards them, to the fallen vampire, "LAELETTE! NO! what've you done to her?" he asked, pointing his axe towards them. "she was a vampire. we killed her before she could turn another one"

The nord, of course, didn't want to believe that, but the ultra-pale skin and long fangs of the vampire were solid proof. Even for him. "but…I don't understand! Why would she become one of those fiends? And why's she _here_?"

"what do you mean?" "one day, she left us. I woke to see her side of the bed empty, and her armor and weapons missing. Alva gave me her note later, with no _other proof_ she was ever here" "well, maybe she was turned in her travels"

"I doubt it. she wouldn't've returned here if she was turned in eastmarch, no vampire would return from a cold land to a land this warm"

Well, he _was_ right. Eradil himself wouldn't be here if it wasn't for lord Harkon's Command. "so, she must've turned _here_ " he said, and Serana continued, "and tried to leave, before anyone could notice. _Brilliant!_ " then she asked, "Who was the last one to talk to her?"

"Alva, she was the last one I know, but-NO!" he exploded, "I refuse to believe _Alva_ 's a vampire! there's no _way_ you could prove that"

Eradil sighed, "alright. whatever you say." Then he looked at Serana, "hurry up. We must return to the jarl"

* * *

As it turned out, the jarl couldn't arrest potential vampires either. "solid proof is all I can use!" as she'd put it.

Alva's house was nothing out of ordinary. Well, apart from having no bed. "where's the bed?" Eradil asked, "Shouldn't a house have one?"

Serana said "our castle doesn't have beds. There are coffins instead-" she paused, and both of them turned to the door down the stairs. "cellar. Maybe there's something there?"

And it was. in a coffin in the cellar of the house, where, no doubt, Alva slept, was a book. A Journal to be exact.

Reading it…well…shed some light into the matter.

As fast as possible, they left to the highmoon hall, where the jarl had almost ended her day of work. She looked at the two detectives. "well, did you find any proof?" "here's all the proof you need"

A minute later, the jarl's reaction was a bit out of character. "that traitorous _BITCH!_ She's dead! And so is this Movarth Piquine!" she fumed, "I know of his lair. A cave a few miles north of the city. We'll gather a few guards and-"

Eradil interrupted, "with all due respect, your guards would stand no _chance_ against Movarth Piquine, my Jarl." He said, "there was a Movarth Piquine in a rather famous book, 'immortal blood', who was a vampire hunter who was turned by a Cyrodillic Vampire. if he's the same man, he'll be centuries old, let us handle this, my jarl. Give us leave to raid his lair and end this threat"

* * *

Movarth's lair was exactly where Jarl Idgrod had said it was, and it was _filled_ with ferals. Most of whom were newly-turned, and had no one to teach them how to control their powers.

Eradil cut off a vampire's head, as Serana pierced another's heart with a spike of ice. Raising the vampire's thrall, he followed Serana.

In the far end of the cave, in a room that seemed to be a feast hall, a coven of vampires was sitting around a table.

Another one, looking quite old with his pale face and bald head, sat of a throne.

Serana stopped by the table. "Movarth Piquine, I presume"

He said "That would be me, girl. What's your business here?"

Serana said "I'm from the volkihar court. We're here to purge this cave, before you endanger us with your stupid schemes!"

Movarth narrowed his eyes, "you, a little girl and a puny elf, want to defeat _us_? Are you out of your mind?" "No, but you're out of time. honestly, what did you expect to happen when you decided you wanted a _hold capital_ as your playground?"

Movarth said "a city less of these annoying mortals. What do _you_ think?"

A nord vampire said "enough with this! You insolent brats will-" she stopped, when Serana's Ice spike shattered her skull.

Three more vampires rose, but Eradil raised his Crossbow and fired, killing one of the vampires, before drawing his ebony sword and summoning the aura of fire.

Fortunately, Mage-fire had no effect on the caster.

After that, it was a massacre. Every vampire, including movarth himself, rose and attacked. By the time he had ran out of magicka, the floor was full of dead bodies, but there were still too many around.

He gave up, and once more, he called upon the ancient blood. That was the second time he transformed.

Harkon was right. _EVERYONE_ feared the vampire lord. And that included the other vampires.

"what in oblivion is _that_?" "it's Bal himself!" "MERCY!"

He heard none of them, with balls of drain life spells in his right hand, he killed the vampires one by one, felling them with mere spells. The closest ones he killed with his claws. One by one, they fell, and he absorbed their life force and felt stronger than before.

In the end, only Movarth Piquine remained, and even _he_ looked like he'd just soiled his pants.

"wanted to attack your betters now, did you?" he mockingly asked the scared vampire, and then struck his hand forward.

What happened next was unexpected. But welcome anyway.

He expected to raise a dead vampire to fight for him, but instead of a bright blue, his hand was covered in an orange hue, an other-worldly binding of the same color covered the other vampire.

"huh. That's new" he said in a fascinated tone, Serana said "you learned Vampiric Grip _that_ fast?" "so what's what it called…Vampiric Grip" he tested the spell, forcing the Binding to move towards him.

Movarth cried in pain, and moved forward, the spell was _draining_ his lifeblood

By the time he had stopped moving, Movarth piquine, ancient vampire, was dead.

Seeing no other around, he transformed back, and said "yeah. Definitely nothing we can do in public"

He staggered, but caught himself before he could fall down. Trying to clear his head of the voice screaming _BLOOOODDDDD!_ he said "let's inform the jarl about our progress."

* * *

"your leach problem is over, my Jarl" he said to the old woman first thing the next day, "Movarth's lair is clear of vampires, but I suggest you set fire to the cave, lest some other vampires settle in-" Serana scoffed, "Please. I bet there's already a vampire inside. You'd do better if you made a pact with them"

"a pact?" asked Jarl Idgrod.

She explained, "this city's got problems. No fortifications, no guards. How many bandits do you face every month?" she chuckled, "if you are able to, you imprison your bandits. They get free food for as long as they're there, and they escape when they're bored. Instead of _giving_ them food, give them _to_ the vampires, as food. And make them defend you if there's a raid"

The Jarl pondered, "what's to say they don't accept, or attack us instead?" "just tell them the court is watching. They'll understand" "so will I say. But there's one more thing. You've done my city a great service," …

Three hours later, Eradil was named Thane of Morthal, with the decree to a land in the Marsh. with an enchanted new blade, and a fancy cloak with the emblem of the Hjaalmarsh on it, Eradil and Serana resumed their travel to Dragon's Bridge

 **To Be Continued in** _ **Prophet: the prophecy**_

* * *

 **A.N:**

 **Notes:**

 **The state of Winterhold: the city is, in game, a place that dragons attack** _ **every time**_ **you enter it. it has about 4 guards (two of whom are always in the jarl's hall. So they're basically useless). If you join the College, it gets attacked by magical anomalies once.**

 **in other words, for a 'city' with so few citizens, it is basically a ruin. Considering the College questline happened in this universe (and a story about it might be coming next), it is safe to presume the city would be a ruin.**

 **The great Collapse: lore says a series of storms attacked Winterhold, and ruined most of it, with the college and a few huts remaining. It doesn't say** _ **what**_ **was the reason of the collapse. But I believe Savos Aren was the reason, or more accurately, the dragon priest he fought. The dragon priest's entrapment caused a great shockwave, one that, mixing with the after effects of the eruption of the red-mountain, caused the collapse. There** _ **has**_ **to be a reason everyone mistrusts the college so much.**

 **That's it. for now,**

 **See you next time, for the conclusion of this arc, and an interlude, before we enter the** _ **actual**_ **storyline.**

 **Davoid, signing off.**


	7. Prophet: the Prophecy

Night-walkers

An _Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_ Fanfiction

Disclaimer: the author claims no ownership for _Skyrim_ , _The Elder Scrolls_ , and pretty much anything you might recognize

Chapter Five: Prophet: the prophecy

* * *

As they closed to the dragon's bridge, they could understand why someone would put the name on a village. There was a bridge, made of _dragon's bones_ , that connected the village (and solitude, if one had to be precise) to the rest of the Skyrim.

Unlike the bridge, though, the town in front of them was by no means impressive. Only a few houses on the two sides of a road connecting it to Solitude, and a large building with the imperial Dragon banner on it.

"well, _I_ for one can't see a priest" said Serana, Eradil Frowned, "maybe someone around has seen him." He looked around, _target found_ , "maybe a guard"

"apologies, sir. Have you seen a moth priest around here?"

The guard halted mid-patrol. "so he was a moth priest?" he asked himself, "man in grey robes, an old imperial. With five or more legionnaires as his bodyguards? That the man you lookin' for?"

Eradil hadn't seen a priest before, but he could presume, and also the guard wasn't looking for an answer. "he was travelling south. hired one of the Legion Carriages a few hours ago. If you go after him, you might catch him in the way."

As he was talking, the door to the imperial keep broke, a man in red and black armor bolted out of it. a guard from the keep, wearing an armor _almost_ like Heavy Legion armor yelled "stop! THIEF!"

His warning caught the attention of _every_ guard in the town, including the guard near them. He murmured "thief! Gotta stop him!" before joining the party of guards chasing the man towards solitude.

"wonder what _that_ was all about" said Serana, but Eradil scoffed, "nothing that concerns us, I bet. Let us hurry. The moth priest isn't going to wait for us"

* * *

He was, of course, wrong. Backtracking the path, and moving across the bridge again, they saw no priest. But a few miles past the bridge, they found a broken carriage. a few dead men in the armor of Legionnaires were scattered near the carriage. One or two had the armor of a vampire.

"dammit! We weren't fast enough!" said Eradil, "all this search, and we still come second to a filthy-" Serana interrupted, "do you know a vampire named _Malcus_?" "-little- WHAT? No, sounds like an orc. I think I would know if I had seen an _orc_ vampire"

Serana showed him a note, "found it on one of the vampires."

He read it.

 _I Have New orders for you. Prepare an ambush just south of the Dragon's Bridge. Take the quarry to the Forebears holdout for safekeeping, until I can break his will_

 _Malcus_

He said "where the hell is _forebear's holdout_? We have no idea where they've taken the priest. Even if the priest _is_ their quarry. We can't possibly manage to find him!"

Serana said "well, a mortal can't. but even _they_ have methods on finding prey. As a vampire, we have quite a method for tracking others" he asked "what's that?"

"your new lesson. We call it 'blood tracking'. Short version: we find people by smelling their blood"

They looked around, there was a _lot_ of blood here, "how do we know the moth priest even _fought_?" "please. Look around. See that scratch?" she pointed at a scratch over the carriage, "no double-edged weapon can create that. That's the mark of a _Tsaesci_ sword. From Akavir. Do you think _any_ of the vampires here look like they could find an _akaviri_ blade?"

She was right. and he began smelling the puddles of blood. After ten failures, he finally tracked the moth priest.

* * *

The forebear's holdout turned out to be an underground fort. This one wasn't filled with vampires, a fact that put Eradil on his guard.

Then, he heard the bark. A hound had noticed him over the bridge, the beast attacked Eradil, but a well-placed bolt of lightning put it down. fortunately, the Dawnguard and the vampires were very incompetent, for the booming sound of Shock magic didn't alert anyone is the fort,

Passing over the bridge, and into a sort of courtyard, just as he was entering, Serana halted, raised a hand and pointed at two in Dawnguard armor on the said "wow, those vampires put up one helluva fight"

His comrade wasn't as amazed, "I just hope we aren't too late. I'm not sure what these _beasts_ did to the poor priest, but he doesn't look right"

"you think they turned him? "don't know. Maybe. We can't tell, until we get him outta there" "but how do we do that?" the other said "I'm working on it. give me some silence, I need to think"

The Dawnguard turned around, just to notice the two in vampire armor. "VAMPIRE!" he bellowed, making three more vampires notice them.

Serana sighed, "I take it, this is the civilized bunch you'd joined?" Eradil sighed, "I'm not proud of some of my past actions. But yeah, pretty much"

Before attacking the mortals, he was fed his own bitter medicine. A bolt hit him in the shoulder, throwing him down, and making him cry in pain. _This hurts!_ He thought, before summoning the aura of Vampiric Drain. If only he could access his night powers while in mortal form.

Casting it upon the first Dawnguard as he pulled out the bolt, the orc's life force began healing him. The decayed form of his enemy fell like a ragdoll. The other met the same fate, and the third, a nord not older that seventeen, began showing signs of fear. He was lucky, for his superiors, the two who were trying to get the priest out of something, decided to show up, and with bolts of crossbows, they distracted the vampires long enough for the boy to do something.

The boy, alas, proved foolish, for he drew a measly dagger and attacked, swinging it with all his might at Eradil's unarmed arm. Apparently, the Dawnguard wasn't _that_ good at educating the whelps on the enemy they were facing, the piece of metal shattered at collision with the vampire's skin.

The boy gasped in shock, and then stuttered in pain, as Vampire claws tore his throat. Eradil pulled the boy to the air, before throwing him towards the other two Dawnguard soldiers.

He hit one of them, making him fall down and break his back. The other vampire yelled "VANIK! No!" before drawing a Warhammer and climbing down the stairs.

The Redguard proved quite brave, and even more of a fool. By the time he was down, seven spears of Ice had pierced his body, and no matter how well-trained, a human _needs_ all his inner organs intact.

Walking past the dead Dawnguard and the dead vampires who'd been slain by them, they reached the highest floor. On the highest level, the man the guard had described was trapped inside a blue barrier.

"he's trapped. Any ideas on removing the barrier?" Serana asked, Eradil looked around, "huh. Something has caused the barrier. Can you sense anyone?" "no heart beating, no magicka visible. Aside from the priest here, there's no one but us." She replied, "maybe a mechanism or something?"

* * *

A waystone Focus was all that was needed for the barrier to fade. Unfortunately, that also removed the priest's magically-enforced coma.

"I must serve my master's will" he said, then continued "but my master's dead. I will make his enemies Pay!"

And attacked.

It didn't take long for Eradil to learn how _hard_ it could be to fight an enemy with the intent of not killing them.

The priest had no such intents, and unleashed his unlimited wrath upon them. Unfortunately, he did so in the form of fire.

Fire hurts. It hurts a vampire a thousand times worse than sunlight ever can. The moth priest had a fire cloak on, and was unleashing two walls of fire, one upon each enemy.

He proved a worthy foe. For one, he didn't fall by just one hit. And proved a mightier enemy than the Dawnguard, even with their chainmail armor.

Eradil swiped his sword, but the monk blocked it with his own sword, a long sword with only one edge, a fabled _akaviri_ sword. The strength behind the parry was more than Eradil's, and he was forced to duck before the sword could cut him. It wasn't made of steel, and Eradil couldn't risk it hitting him if he didn't know the material it _was_ made from.

blocking the wall of fire with an impressive ward, he swiped his off hand at the man, shocking him mildly with a basic _sparks_ spell.

"I can't hold it any longer" he said, "he's got more magicka!" as his magicka ran out. He jumped to the left side, and threw an ice spike between the man's feet. It didn't hit him, as was Eradil's intention, but the explosion of the spike threw the Priest off his guard.

Serana said "there it is, a clear shot! Take cover!" she said, and threw a jet of green light at the priest.

As soon as it hit him, the old imperial hit the ground, not capable of moving. _Paralyze_.

Serana said "we don't have much time! calm him!"

This was something he knew. Vampiric Seduction. A power all thirsty vampires had. To calm one person for a day, so that the vampire could feed, if they weren't near a sleeping target.

Another effect of the spell, though, was that it was the first level for _enthralling_ someone. As soon as the vampire fed on a calmed foe, the foe would become his thrall. And would pretty much do whatever his master told him.

Right before the paralyzing effect wore off, Eradil used the Seduction power, calming the priest.

"Feed on him. Make him your thrall, or others will, as soon as we're in the castle"

This time, Eradil was careful not to feed for more than five heartbeats. When the priest rose again, he looked really calm.

"By the divines! It's as if my eyes have been opened! I am blinded by the light of your majesty. I…I must obey you. What would you have of me, master?" asked the monk.

"for one, tell me who you are. I don't want to call you 'moth priest' all the time" asked the elf. The monk answered, "I am Dexion Evicus, master. A Moth priest. I travelled to Skyrim because of the-" "rumors of Elder scrolls. We know. Those are just that. Rumors"

Dexion seemed disappointed, "is my master telling me there is no scroll?"

Eradil laughed, "oh no. there _is_ an elder scroll waiting you at your new home. And _you_ are going to read it. you, my mortal friend, are the first Priest in the entire era to get his hands on an elder scroll"

Then, he said "now, we travel to the Volkihar keep."

* * *

Three days later, Eradil was the last volkihar to arrive at the Castle. But unlike the others, he was successful. As soon as they were near the castle, Serana said "don't mention me, okay? If Father want to gift us, let him just gift you whatever rewards he has in mind. I don't need the attention of the court on me"

When inside, the courtiers were feasting, as they usually did at that time of the night. Harkon rose as he saw him, "so, our last Vampire returns. What news do you have for us? Another vampire failed?"

Eradil said "on the contrary, My lord. I have enthralled a Moth priest"

The vampire raised one of his eyebrows, "well. You are indeed successful. You are rewarded, you have a seat at my high table now, on the far end of the main table"

he said "Menasur, give our priest his scroll." when the imperial had his scroll, he turned to Eradil again, "your thrall awaits, command him to read the scroll. Let us hear the words of the prophecy together!"

Dexion was quite pleased to have a scroll in his hands, he opened the scroll, and after a few moments of silence, he said "I see a vision before me. An image of a great bow. I _know_ this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow!"

Another pause, "Now a voice whispers, saying 'among the night's children, a dreadlord shall rise! In an age of Strife, when Dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light, and night and day will be as one!'"

He paused again, "the voice faders, words begin to shimmer and distort…but wait! There is more here! The secret of the bow's _power_ is written elsewhere. I think there is more to this prophecy, recorded in other scrolls!"

He paused for about a minute, just as they were going to give up, he said "yes, I see them now. One contains ancient secrets of the dragons, the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood."

He paused, and said "my vision darkens, I see no more"

With a disappointed voice, he closed the scroll, and looked at the court, "to know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls"

He put the scroll down, and bowed. Harkon wasn't looking that pleased. "dismiss your thrall, Eradil."

* * *

Two hours later, when most vampires had gone to sleep, the main body of Harkon's Court was having a council session.

Garan, Vingalmo, Orthjolf, Eradil and Harkon himself had retreated to Harkon's Study, and there, Harkon had a truth to admit.

"the truth is, gentlemen, we are in trouble" Harkon said, "as you might've noticed, the prophecy, or the parts we heard, is not as straight as we like."

Vingalmo said "indeed, especially the part 'night and day will be as one'. That can be dangerous"

Three nodded, Orthjolf asked "Why? I don't understand"

Vingalmo said "please put on your idiot act for the court, _Orthjolf_. You are smarter than that. The sentence can mean eternal night" he paused, "or eternal day"

Eradil said "well, then it's up to us to make sure it's eternal night, isn't it?"

Harkon said "indeed. Garan, start tracking the old artefacts. We might need _all_ firepower we can have. If there is going to be an all-out war, the Mortals may not be all we have to face."

 **End of** _ **Prophet**_ **arc.**

 **Next up,** _ **amulets of ancient blood**_ **.**

 **A.N:**

 **Notes:**

 **You might've noticed this (if you actually read the story at all). There are not any fight scenes here. I have a reason for that. You see,** _ **Vampires**_ **are mostly spellswords, proficient on Ice Magic and Drain spells. I'm pretty sure if a** _ **spike**_ _ **of ice**_ **had run through you, you wouldn't really survive it. not only it can tear off flesh and vital organs, but also** _ **cold**_ _ **is bad for body**_ **. An icy spear in the head can** _ **not**_ **be survived. Not by a vampire, not by an elf, not by a** _ **Frost giant.**_ **The only creature in the entire Skyrim that I could see surviving that would be a dragon (and we'll face one of those soon enough.**

 **In my opinion, many of the things we see in the game are basically good acting skills. One of them is Vingalmo/Orthjolf feud in Volkihar castle. The two have probably been co-advisors to an ancient vampire for almost** _ **four**_ **eras. I'm pretty sure no feud between** _ **two**_ **people can exist for that long (now, if they were families, it could be explained). Another is Heimskr's 'preaching'. He's probably a Thalmor agent, trying to eradicate Talos worship in a trickier way. I'm pretty sure I would stop worshipping Talos (were I in Skyrim) if I had to hear Heimskr yell about him all the time.**

 **The first cameo of Dark brotherhood. Another thing I'll have to work on later.**

 **That's all for now,**

 **Davoid, signing off**


End file.
